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Thursday, 18 February 2016

In Bed With Brendan Behan (and his Typewriter)

This illustration of a sozzled Irish writer Brendan Behan (1923-1964) is by noted Dublin artist Tom Mathews (1952-). It appeared with an article called "The Behan Legacy", by Joe Ambrose, in the In Dublin magazine in the mid-1970s. In the story, Ambrose, a former colleague now a writer, filmmaker and arts agitator based in Tangiers, approached the question of whether Irish writing was fairly considered to be synonymous with alcohol abuse.

Among the then up-and-coming writers Ambrose talked to for his piece was Mairin Johnston. When photographer Tony O'Shea arrived, during the interview, to take a snap of Johnson for the article, he asked her to stand at the bar of Grogan's pub. Ambrose concludes:

One much more unusual possibility Ambrose did not have to contemplate for his story was writing about Brendan Behan using his Remington Model 2 portable typewriter in bed.

Among many projects Ambrose has since tackled is one involving the Chelsea Hotel in New York. Here is Behan using a Japy portable typewriter in the Chelsea:

But Behan was much more at home in the pubs of Dublin, with his little Remington:

Kia Ora!

Tapping gingerly. Sunday morning, coming down.
Might be my third or fourth attempt to establish a blog. Steeled to make it work this time. All about typewriters. Typewriters in Australia. Ergo, "oz.Typewriter", something a bit different. Please enjoy.